Finals Match Two

AtlantaOctober 8, 1995

Wow, what a great match! We made a lot of noise and had a lot of fun. Best thing of all? 3-0! Plus
we got to see Jason make a beautiful goal. The result is made slightly less impressive because of the
fact that Atlanta went down a man in the 41st minute.

The ejection precipitated from a really stupid move. Araujo was pretty clearly fouled by Haynes, but
nothing was called. He then got real hotheaded about it and went up to the ref and ran into him with
his chest. Off the pitch he went. That was the only card shown the entire match. Many more were
probably deserved, on both sides.

Please note: The third and final game will in Memorial Stadium at 7:05pm Thursday,
October 12. It should be televised on the Prime Network.

The Seattle Sounders evened up the A-League Championship Series with a 3-0
victory over the Atlanta Ruckus. It was a Dunn deal as defender James Dunn's
crosses after overlapping up the right side created the first two goals and
forward Jason Dunn stole the ball and put it in the net to finish the scoring.
Veteran Chance Fry finished the first two goals.

The game followed a predictable pattern with the Sounders attacking throughout
the game and the Ruckus, with Staale Soebye as the lone striker,
counterattacking whenever they got the opportunity. Excellent defense on the
part of both teams limited the number of good shots. Most of Seattle's crosses
were dealt with by Defender John Doyle in the air or by goalkeeper Young Yi.

Seattle had a couple of chances early. In the 3rd, defender Billy Crook was
allowed to dribble nearly the full length of the field, then passed forward to
Peter Hattrup, whose near-post shot was barely blocked and then gathered in by a
diving Young Yi. A minute later, Medved beat a man, dribbled into the penalty
area and crossed to David Hoggan, whose header was saved. A couple of dangerous
Seattle crosses were cleared out for corners, but Seattle couldn't put them to
good use. In the 22nd, Dominic Kinnear headed back in a cleared corner kick but
Hattrup headed wide.

Atlanta's first good chance came in the 23rd when Doyle headed a free kick back
across the goal and the ball ended up at Suri's feet with time for him to
measure a shot. Medved slid in to block the 15-yard shot near the goal.

The first goal came in the 25th from a nice string of passes. Kinnear
dribbled forward on the left side and passed to Hoggan, who switched the ball to
James Dunn overlapping up the right touch line. Dunn's cross was headed toward
the right post by Hattrup and Chance Fry slid in feet first to finish the goal.

The referee let quite a bit of rough play go. At 30 minutes, Sheen locked arms
with Hattrup and pulled him to the ground. They nipped at each other while on
the ground, then Sheen stomped on Hattrup's chest as he got up. The referee saw
the whole incident from 5 yards away, but chose to only have a word with Sheen.

In the 35th, Bruce Murray set up Wurdack with a nice cross from the left touch
line. Wurdack had a piece of goal to shoot at, but sent the ball wide left.

In the 40th, James Dunn sent in another good cross to an open Shawn Medved, who
headed sharply but at Young Yi.

In the 41st, Araujo dribbled through the center circle on a promising
counterattack and got tripped up but didn't get the call he deserved. Incensed,
Araujo chest-bumped the referee as he complained loudly. The referee showed him
the red card, probably for violent conduct, but since I couldn't hear what he
said to the referee we can't rule out foul or abusive language as a reason.

Sounder Jason Farrell came on for Brian Haynes in the 42nd. Seattle up 1-0 at
the half.

Early in the second half, Seattle got a couple of chances. Farrell fed forward
to Fry, but the defender wouldn't let Fry get anything but a shot wide. Medved
tried a long shot after receiving the ball from a throw-in, but Young Yi saved
easily.

Atlanta's turn was next. Doyle headed a throw-in across the goal, but Soebye
shot wide right. Soon thereafter, Soebye took the ball from a long Young Yi
punt and shot on goal, but Hahnemann saved. Doyle went over James Dunn's back
to head a cross, but got called for the foul.

In the 71st, Hoggan hit the scoreboard with a shot, but the numbers didn't
change.

Atlanta's Moore came on for Suri in the 73rd. Then Seattle striker Jason Dunn
replaced Farrell.

For most of the last 10 minutes, Doyle played forward for Atlanta and his
teammates sent him prayer balls at every opportunity. However, no good shots
came of it.

Seattle's insurance goal came in the 84th as Kinnear chipped to James Dunn who
had overlapped up the right side again. Dunn crossed on the ground for a
running Fry to slam into the net at the near post.

Two minutes later, Jason Dunn stole the ball near the halfway line, dribbled
toward goal, beat Murray with a move and left him laying on the ground, and beat
a diving Young Yi with a far-post goal.

In the 88th, Erik Storkson came on for Hoggan.

Jason Dunn and Moore took the last shots for Seattle and Atlanta, respectively,
but both shots were saved. Final score 3-0.